Chapter 739: The Text About Cleansing

While the others trained, the library had become a different kind of battlefield.

Dust motes drifted through the pale light that slanted through the high windows, catching the edges of leather-bound spines and the scattered parchments that covered the long table. The air smelled of aged paper and ink.

Madam Tyler moved slowly along the far wall, her fingers trailing across the spines of books that had not been touched in years. Her staff tapped softly against the floor with each step, a steady rhythm that punctuated the silence. Ronan worked beside her, pulling down volumes and flipping through pages.

At the table, Tobias, Jarek, and Eldric were hunched over a collection of parchments. The translations from the altar and the stones were spread out before them, their edges curled and worn from being handled too many times.

Tobias picked up the translation from the third stone, his eyes scanning the words that Sophia had written down in her careful handwriting.

"To take is to die," he read aloud. "To unleash is to release."

He set the parchment down and leaned back slightly.

"This one is quite easy to understand," he said.

Eldric frowned at him. "Is it?"

Tobias nodded. "It was a warning about what was sealed in the Trine of Ash and Vein. And it’s already been released, so that warning likely fell on deaf ears."

Jarek, who had been quiet until now, frowned at the parchment. "But what does the first part mean? ’To take is to die.’ No one died, right?"

Tobias paused at that question.

Even Eldric’s hand stilled on the page he was holding. His frown deepened as he looked at the translation again.

"How is it that we failed to consider that first line properly?" he asked. "We have been so focused on the second."

Tobias circled the words with his finger, his brow furrowed.

He wondered what exactly had been taken. Who had taken it? What did this part truly refer to? Orion did not take anything from Dolion when he killed him. Neither did Sophia.

He paused, letting the thought settle.

Or could it be referring to someone else entirely?

He looked up. "Ronan!"

Ronan’s head appeared from between two towering shelves, a book in his hand. "What’s the matter?"

Tobias gestured him over. Ronan set the book down and crossed the room, joining them at the table.

"These warriors you found in the heart of Nirvana—Victoria’s warriors. Their aim was to kill Dolion, right?"

Ronan shook his head immediately. "That’s not it. Kairen told Orion they were sent to bring Dolion back. Alive. Victoria wanted him retrieved, not killed."

Tobias nodded slowly, his gaze drifting back to the parchment.

Eldric’s eyes widened. "Then if they were told to bring Dolion back..."

He paused, connecting the thought.

"To take is to die," he said slowly. "Perhaps if those warriors had taken Dolion, it would have been a death sentence—for them. For everyone."

Tobias nodded. "That is a possibility. But we cannot be certain yet."

He set the parchment aside carefully.

"You know what, let’s just wait for Sophia to return. Maybe she’ll have a better explanation."

Ronan stood for a moment longer, but it seemed he was no longer needed. He rolled his eyes and returned to his task.

Eldric picked up the first translation from the stones, setting the third one aside. His voice was low as he read aloud.

"Wash the eyes of the earth...

While the water sings, the Great Disaster sleeps...

But heed the silt when the blood runs black before the rain,

And the sea seeks a new successor of the night...

The First Key has turned.

But the wheels turn too, for an ancient shadow may no longer be left a shadow."

He set the parchment down.

"The ancient shadow is obviously Dolion," Eldric said. "And obviously, he is no longer a shadow."

Tobias nodded, his gaze still fixed on the words. "That much we know. But the rest of it..."

He trailed off, his brow furrowed.

Eldric straightened suddenly, a spark of recognition in his eyes. "I have found a text that has something similar."

Tobias looked up sharply. "What?"

Eldric was already moving. "I’ll be right back."

He rushed out of the main library and into the narrow corridor that led to his office. The others heard his footsteps quicken, followed by a muffled groan, then a string of muttered curses and the sound of something heavy being shifted.

When he returned, his glasses were slightly askew, and dust clung to his sleeves. He carried a thick, worn volume bound in cracked leather.

"Apologies," he said, setting the book down with a thud. "My office may need some rearrangement."

Tobias raised a brow at the state of the book. "Half of it is missing."

Eldric shot him a look. "Don’t look at me like that. This is how you brought the text to me."

Tobias cleared his throat, suddenly finding the ceiling very interesting.

Eldric ignored him and began flipping through the pages slowly, carefully, as if afraid the fragile paper would crumble beneath his fingers. The pages were yellowed and brittle, their edges darkened with age.

He stopped at a particular page and pointed.

"This," he said, "is what I was referring to."

Tobias leaned forward and read the text. It was written in a careful, flowing script, the ink faded to a pale brown.

The text read:

...and there comes a time when all things must be made anew. When the spirit must be washed clean, and the soul returned to the path of the Goddess.

A rite is called to wash the eyes of the earth, where all gather beneath the moon’s witness. Each is marked, their wolves present, for this is something beyond mortal understanding. Something beyond all who walk the earth.

This cleansing is not of water. It is deeper than that. It is a purification of the soul, a return to balance, and a reminder that the Goddess still walks among her children. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Tobias frowned as he read the text. His finger traced the words slowly, and his brow furrowed deeper with each line.